(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements to electrical apparatus.
Although the following description refers almost exclusively to electrical apparatus in the form of a broadcast data receiver (BDR) of a type which receives data from a remote broadcast provider and processes and decodes said data to provide video, audio and/or auxiliary data for display on a display screen or listening to via speakers, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention can relate to any type of electrical apparatus, such as a personal computer, video, DVD player and/or the like.
(2) Background Art
Conventionally, BDRs include a housing in which a plurality of electrical components are provided to allow the processing and decoding of data received by and/or to be transmitted by said apparatus, such as for example one or more micro-processing chips, capacitors, resistors and/or similar. A hard disk drive (HDD) is provided to allow data to be read, written and stored in the apparatus. In addition, the BDR typically has one or more electrical connections to any or any combination of a television set, mains power supply, speakers, video, DVD player, headphones, keyboard and/or the like. All these electrical components and generate heat which can damage the electrical components and/or reduce the efficiency of the same. The HDD is particularly sensitive to heat and the efficiency of the same can be significantly influenced by temperature rises in the apparatus as a result of power dissipation from other electrical components in the locality. In hot countries, such as parts of Australia, where the ambient air temperature is relatively high, there is a smaller margin for increase in the temperature surrounding the HDD in use of the apparatus.
In order to prevent, or at least reduce damage caused to electrical components within the BDR as a result of excessive temperatures, it is known to provide a number of ventilation mechanisms, such as one or more air circulation vents or air cooling channels to allow cooling by convection, fans to allow cooling using forced air circulation and/or the like. However, it has been found difficult to position these ventilation mechanisms within the housing in such locations to allow both efficient convection and forced ventilation cooling. For example, if the fan is fitted on one wall of the housing, the circulation of air generated by the fan is often insufficient to reach electrical components adjacent the opposing wall. In addition, provision of a fan on an interior surface of an exterior wall of the housing increases the noise and vibration associated with the housing when in an “on” condition and is undesirable.